Election flaws easy to foresee

OUR VIEW

We want to be "shocked" by the litany of problems in last year's Davidson County elections. But we're merely appalled.

State Elections Coordinator Mark Goins said last week he was shocked to learn, through a review of the Davidson elections, that the reliance on "faulty technology" in electronic poll books during the Aug. 2 primary may have altered the outcome of two state House primaries. Davidson Elections Administrator Albert Tieche took exception to that characterization.

But then, Tieche took exception to everything the state found in its review, including Tieche's failure to open the polls on Saturday during early voting in the February primary; incorrect information about photo IDs distributed to voters in legal notices and sample ballots; and the election commission's understaffing of precincts in November.

Tieche's defiance probably is due in part to the fact that a recent Metro audit gave favorable marks to Tieche and the commission.

That only adds to the gray area in this dispute between state and local officials. But we independently know that the problems with Saturday early voting, deliberate or accidental misinformation about IDs, and understaffing were real.

Still, none of it is shocking, because we have taken our election process for granted for years - before and after Florida in 2000. And that attitude is going to bite us.

In the end, it won't be only a Davidson County problem. Even when local election officials do carry out their duties to the best of their abilities, there is interference in the election process when lawmakers and groups who back them change voting laws in a way that favors their candidates for office.

A few years ago, Tennessee had the chance the fortify its election systems against errors, fraud and interference. The Tennessee Voter Confidence Act, championed by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen, would have made vote-recording in all 95 counties adhere to a higher verification standard.

The law was repealed by the General Assembly before it could be implemented. It may not have fixed all voting problems, but it was affordable and it would have eliminated subtle ways that votes can be manipulated.

Who should actually be put on notice here? All of us who vote. We must demand accountability from those who administer elections, as well as the lawmakers who appoint them.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Election flaws easy to foresee

We want to be 'shocked' by the litany of problems in last year's Davidson County elections. But we're merely appalled.